Considering that both of its schools are well-decorated for academic achievement, the Kentfield School District appears to be in good shape. It's a place where the slightest drop in state testing scores sends up red flags, yet doesn't stop families from moving into the district in search of better schools.

But the district does face some challenges — some that are common to school districts throughout the state and some more specific to Kentfield and southern Marin — that require guidance from the school's board of trustees. That board could have a new look come Election Day, when voters will choose three candidates to round out the five-seat panel.

Incumbents Cynthia Roenisch and Ashley Paff are seeking re-election, with Sarah Ames, Karen Loebbaka and Heather McPhail Sridharan joining the fray for the district's first challenged election since 2007.

A fourth seat, which carried a two-year term, had been up for election. But since Juli Kauffman ran unopposed for that seat — which involved a voting process independent of the board's other three open spots — Kauffman automatically won the seat.

The five candidates share concerns about the pressing issues, which include implementation of core curriculum standards and local control of funding.

"Our No. 1 challenge right now is implementing the Common Core Standards," Loebbaka said. "We have to make sure we're implementing it in the best way possible so that it's seamless for our students, teachers and our parents."

And they all express a sense of urgency regarding the district's climbing enrollment, which is overloading classrooms at Bacich Elementary and Kent Middle schools.

"It's one of the big issues in our district, the space for growth," said McPhail Sridharan. "There are 700 kids in a space for 350" at Bacich.

Ames, a former Bacich teacher who runs a tutoring business, said the district has struggled with implementing its new math curriculum — something in which she said she can help.

"I'm the only (candidate) with 20 years in education, and the only one who has implemented curriculum," Ames said.

McPhail Sridharan, who has two children at Bacich, said she wants to bring balance to a board that has no members with children currently attending the district's elementary school.

She shares an assertion with Ames that the district needs to improve its outreach to parents and be more transparent in how it makes decisions.

"There really hasn't been a lot of communication around the issues" of growth and implementation of the new mandates, she said.

It's a point contested by the other candidates, who say the district regularly holds meetings and works to get parents involved.

"This has been the most inclusive (school) environment I have experienced," said Loebbaka, whose children have previously attended schools in two other districts. "This misrepresentation that we operate under some sort of cloak of mystery is absurd."

As president of the district's PTA, Loebbaka said her efforts have significantly boosted parent participation.

Paff, who has worked for Goldman Sachs and the World Bank, and has an economics degree from Princeton, was appointed to the board in April 2009.

As the trustee "most focused on the financial issues," Paff said her top priority is the new funding approach, in which school districts now have more control — and responsibility — over how their money is spent.

"I feel now is the time my expertise is needed more than ever," Paff said. "We'll need to pay attention over our budget more now than ever."

Roenisch, a former lawyer, teaches English at Alameda High School and is the board's longest serving member, having been a trustee for eight years. While McPhail Sridharan is campaigning to give the board a Bacich parent, Roenisch said she brings the perspective of someone whose children have passed through the district. Her two children attend Redwood High School, after coming up through the Kentfield district.

"I have that ability to look forward and look back and see where our curriculum supports our students," Roenisch said.

She said the district, despite its challenges is healthy, dismissing some concerns by other candidates as manufactured issues.

"When there's an election, people have to find something to run," she said. "The district has not suddenly become broken because there's an election."

Age: 48Occupation: owner/operator of Kentfield TutoringEducation: B.A. in economics from UC Berkeley; master's in education from Mills CollegeExperience: Former teacher, implemented Bacich School Supply Program

Heather McPhail Sridharan

Age: 43Occupation: stay-at-home motherEducation: Bachelor's from UC Berkeley; master's in Latin American political economy from Oxford UniversityExperience: developed Safe Routes to School program; Bacich Site Council; Kentfield Greenbrae Historical Society

Age: 48Occupation: high school teacherEducation: B.A. in English literature from Middlebury College; law degree from the University of ChicagoExperience: Eight years as district trustee; executive board of Kentfield Schools Foundation; PTA, Bacich Site Council